India's large size with huge population (1.25 billion), substantial part of which resides in rural and underdeveloped regions, brings both challenges and opportunities for implementing healthcare policies and initiatives, both public and private. Over the years ineffective implementation of such initiatives at various levels, has created lopsided infrastructure and uneven development in healthcare. Indian health system also lacks effective payment mechanism and has a high out-of-pocket expenditure (roughly 70%). Adverse health events (health shocks) have considerable impact on India's overall poverty figures, adding about seven percentage points. Health is associated with the overall wellness of the citizens. Good health reflects on the productivity and growth of the nation. More so in the case of India as substantial population is young. India has more than 50% (about 662 million) of its population below the age of 25 and more than 65% below the age of 35. By 2020, the average age of India's population is expected to be 29 years. Aging of this large population will happen at the same time. Having adequate infrastructure is key to avoid a massive health catastrophe for this elderly population in future. Health is also a key issue in the public policy sphere. In the public policy context healthcare issues are often related to accessibility, affordability, socio-economic disparities, healthcare delivery mechanisms, illness and diseases and their impact on society etc. India have a conceptual universal health care system run by the constituent states and union territories. The biggest challenge is to make it accessible and affordable for the overall population. Read on... [full article]

India's demographic dividend can only achieve full potential if its young population continues to update their skills, the private sector continues to upgrade its processes, technologies and management practices to remain profitable and growth oriented, and government continues to improve infrastructure, ease regulations to do business, and attract internal and foreign funds as investments in various industries and businesses. Approximately half of India's 1.2 billion people are under the age of 26. By 2020, around 64% of India's population will be in the working age group of 15-64 years, and it is forecast to be the youngest country in the world, with a median age of 29. Moreover, India is a US$ 2 trillion economy, growing at approximately 7% year on year. It has a strong domestic focus with approximately 75% of the GDP generated on domestic consumption. India's demographic dividend will work in favour of the Indian economy when its young, educated and healthy population, is trained, skilled and gainfully employed, giving rise to an upwardly mobile consumer class. Read on... [full article]

India's healthcare is an opportunity that has room for growth for all - public or private, for-profit or non-profit, foreign or domestic entities. According to the latest CII-KPMG report, Indian healthcare sector is estimated to reach US$ 160 billion in 2017, accounting for about 4.2% of GDP. It is further expected to grow to US$ 280 billion by 2020. India currently spends only 1.05% of GDP on public health. Over the years, governments have tried to develop policies and have taken steps to provide better healthcare for its citizens. But India's large size, huge population (1.25 billion) and ineffective implementation at various levels, has created lop sided infrastructure and uneven development in healthcare. While bigger towns and cities have developed state of the art healthcare facilities, the rural part has lagged behind on multiple counts. In spite of all the challenges, India is taking a stride into the next phase of healthcare, riding on technological advances, new financial models and corporatization of hospitals. Timely provision of healthcare assistance is the key to save cost and save lives. Multipronged strategy is the need of the hour. Technology, skilled and trained medical professionals, substantial investment and effective execution of best practices will help India provide what the today's citizens expect from the growing economy. Read on... [full article]

Entrepreneurs and customers are important components of the business ecosystem. Entrepreneurs create innovative products and services for the customers. A strong exchange and partnership between the two will assure that the activity of product and process innovation and improvement never stops. The efficient integration of what customers need and what entrepreneurs develop will lead to growth of businesses and markets. Read on... [full article]

Education plays an important role in enhancing human capital and is considered critical in economic and social development of the country. Human capital and economic progress are closely connected, so it is essential that public policy should be build towards expansion, promotion and efficient delivery of education. Moreover education is one of the necessary ingredient to reduce poverty, inequality and injustice from society. Access to basic and secondary education to all segments of the society particularly to the poor and rural population, is central to the socio-economic development of India and will enhance India's competitiveness in the global economy. Read on... [full article]

Retail ensures that the product supply to the consumer is consistent. So the more simplified, efficient and streamlined the retail process, the better for consumers and in turn for the retailer and other constituents of the supply chain. India is currently in the retail awareness mode and all the constituents of the market whether businesses, regulators, policy makers, investors, entrepreneurs and so on are waking up to the new retail reality with great enthusiasm. Although retail is not new to India and its past innovations along with the employment that the existing retail sector provides to the population can't be ignored, it is surely getting transformed towards more organized form. This seems to be the result of liberalized policies and regulations and also the entry of big Indian corporations and their global counterparts in the sector. Read on... [full article]

Ignorance, the disease of the mind, is the root of various problems for the society. In the context of health, ignorance could be considered as one of the major cause of human suffering from diseases and disorders that otherwise would have been understood, prevented or cured. Physician Lewis Thomas said, "The greatest of all the accomplishments of 20th century science has been the discovery of human ignorance." But the answer and the resulted success of the human race lie in finding solutions for the discovered ignorance. Awareness and dissemination of knowledge about diseases and their causes and effects would help us prevent human pain and suffering not only physical but also psychological. Timothy Ferris, a science writer, in relation to ignorance mentions, "Our ignorance, of course, has always been with us, and always will be. What is new is our awareness of it, our awakening to its fathomless dimensions, and it is this, more than anything else, that marks the coming of age of our species." The more we know about ignorance in its various forms the better we would be able to target resources and energies to overcome it. Integrating and consolidating efforts, with Internet as a medium, for dissemination of health and medical knowledge for diverse socio-economic segments of the society would assist to overcome ignorance and to develop an overall knowledgeable and health aware society. Technology for the improvement of health care systems, technology for drug development & delivery and technology for knowledge creation and dissemination geared towards the consumer will benefit in our quest for informed and healthier world. Bringing the information and knowledge from around the world at a single platform will reduce duplication and would lead to the faster creation and dissemination of new medical thoughts and discoveries and cure for diseases before they become global catastrophes and threaten the existence of the human race. Read on... [full article]